What people see in the news are places where things have not going so well.

India is simply dotted with pilgrimage places, and with teachers and very powerful spiritual guides.

My first intellectual challenge was to try to understand this incredible city of Banaras (also called Varanasi) in India and its meaning for Hindus. That was the place I lived for the first year I was in India and I've been back many times. It's a kind of home to me.

Be prepared for changes.

People came as immigrants from all over the world, and Hindu and Muslim and Buddhist and Sikh communities became part of the landscape of the U.S.

We are built on a structure of the freedom of religion and the non-establishment of religion. That really is a pretty sturdy rudder for the U.S.

Pluralism isn't just diversity; it's something we create out of this diversity.